“I had a dream I was in a type of living room or waiting area. A man came in that I’ve never seen before. He laid down on the chair and he was eating something. I went to get my shoes and there were other shoes. When I bent down there was a lot of gnats or fruit flies (I think it was gnats because they were black). It looked like the gnats were above the shoes.I tried hitting them away. It ended there.Thank you.”

Interpretation

At the first level of dream interpretation, each character represents a part of hour mind. Men usually go more with an action part of the mind. Food usually signals psychological support or nurturance.

Furniture and shoes each support us in different ways. Shoes, in particular support your actions and trying to move forward. I think black shoes are more likely to represent financial support as black is often associated with business attire.

Gnats represent little annoying things whose pestilence is feeding on old and stale things. Gnats usually come around things that are decaying and decrepit, around things that are really getting old and stale fast. Gnats symbolize small annoying things that are feeding upon your active support, your shoes.

If it is a symbolic dream, a man eating who sits on the chair while eating with furniture and shoes involved indicates that a part of you or a part of your actions that were nurturing and supportive are feeling walked upon. It also probably indicates things are getting really old and decadent fast. In other words, you may be tired of a situation where you are the one expected to do supportive actions and the negative effect it is having upon you.

The black shoes could possibly imply more of a business or finance part of yourself. So the question would be “Have you been financially or otherwise supportive to someone, and it is getting kind of old if you know what I mean?” These Little things are really starting to “bug” you.

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In dreams, shoes typically have to do with how we are supported in life emotionally. The following dream is an illustration of this principle:

Dream 316: My Shoes Saved Me
A woman dreamed she was in the shoe store to buy some shoes. She was wearing no shoes and was barefoot. A robber came into the store with a gun.

She slipped out of the store. The robbers chased after her outside. Suddenly she had shoes on. The robber shot at her twice and missed each time. She fell to the ground, got a small gun out of one of her shoes and shot the robber dead.

Interpretation

Metaphorically, feet in dreams get us to where we need to go in life. Shoes help the feet support us while also protecting the feet. Getting new shoes in a dream can mean getting a new support system to help you get to where you want to go in life and to feel protected/safe.

In this case, being barefoot can represent feeling exposed and vulnerable and lacking protection when trying to go forward in life. That the dream occurs in the store suggests that the support was especially needed in her career / business or financial life. The robber was a shadow figure that forced her to escape from danger and protect herself.

While a support system would surely make things easier for the dreamer, the dream was trying to reassure her that she could take care of threats to herself by herself if necessary. She was seen by her subconscious as more than capable of “dodging bullets” in life. Within herself, the dream saw her as having the means to defend herself (the gun in her shoe).

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Shadow Energy
The Shadow is a major dream archetype. It is usually a dark figure in profile or can be a criminal or aggressive stalking figure that either tries to break in to your residence or is pursuing you in some way. We all have a shadow. These contain aggressive impulses and parts of ourselves that we have rejected for now.

The shadow also contains our “get up and go.” it is vital to the personality. Other parts of the personality need to be in contact with the shadow to place appropriate limits on it. By working with the shadow, the other parts of the personality benefit by getting the energy that is in the shadow that can be put to good use.

The following is a dream I had at a critical time that assured me that I would make it through a conflict:

Dream 305: The Caped Crusader

I saw a dark caped figure moving energetically down a hall towards me who seemed mysterious but not threatening. It had the aire almost of an evangelical figure arriving to save us all. I looked at him with awe as I was leaning down to tie my shoe.

Interpretation

This was a numinous or luminous image of the shadow. A numinous or luminous image fills the observer with awe because of its power and is almost sacred in nature. The Savior-moving energy of this dark almost evangelical hero image was to reassure me that I had lots of energy which I would have to use in the adversarial conflict I was in the middle of.

Even the detail of tying my shoes was important. Shoes protect the feet and allow us to get somewhere faster in safety. The feet are supportive of our body.

Tying my shoe meant that I was getting myself together to protect and support myself to get to where I needed to be in this conflict. While it was a high level conflict, I believe this detail was emphasizing the importance of details. Not tying your shoe could impede your progress. Not overlooking a detail in the huge administrative conflict I was involved in was extremely important.